Abu Dhabi man pleads guilty to conspiring to defraud UN oil-for-food program

Man pleads guilty in oil-for-food case

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department says a man has pleaded guilty to engaging in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations oil-for-food program and to bribe Iraqi officials.

Friday’s plea in federal court came from Ousama M. Naaman, who was an Iraqi agent of a U.S. company, Innospec Inc. Innospec pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud and to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act regarding bribes to officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.

Naaman admitted that he paid or promised to pay more than $3 million to officials of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Trade Bank of Iraq to secure sales of a chemical additive used to refine leaded fuel. A dual citizen of Canada and Lebanon, Naaman is from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.